Abstract
Varicella may be a severe infection in children with malignancy. Varicella vaccination is either not recommended for immunocompromised children or it requires temporary discontinuation of immunosuppression. We prospectively evaluated the feasibility of a varicella vaccination programme of household contacts of varicella-negative children receiving antineoplastic chemotherapy. From April 2004 to April 2005, 207 children were evaluated; in 49 (24%) the attending physicians collected no history about previous varicella and performed no serological evaluation before any transfusion. Among the 158 patients with complete history and/or a screening test, 51 (32%) were negative, with a total of 110 household contacts eligible for the study. Of these, 13 (12%) subjects resulted negative for varicella. In three of them vaccination was not performed due to parental refusal. This study demonstrates the difficulties in implementing a varicella vaccination programme targeting negative household contacts of immunocompromised children. The attitude of paediatric oncologists and parental refusal currently represent the main challenges against the complete success of this strategy in countries where VZV vaccination is not inserted in the general vaccination programme.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 144-147 |
| Number of pages | 4 |
| Journal | Infezioni in Medicina |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| Publication status | Published - Sep 2008 |
Fingerprint
Keywords
- Vaccination
- Varicella-zoster
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Infectious Diseases
- Microbiology (medical)
Cite this
Anti-varicella zoster vaccination in contacts of children receiving antineoplastic chemotherapy : A prospective pilot study. / Timitilli, Anna; Bertoluzzo, Luisella; Micalizzi, Concetta; Faraci, Maura; Hanau, Guia; Ricci, Rossella; Giacchino, Raffaella; Castagnola, Elio.
In: Infezioni in Medicina, Vol. 16, No. 3, 09.2008, p. 144-147.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Anti-varicella zoster vaccination in contacts of children receiving antineoplastic chemotherapy
T2 - A prospective pilot study
AU - Timitilli, Anna
AU - Bertoluzzo, Luisella
AU - Micalizzi, Concetta
AU - Faraci, Maura
AU - Hanau, Guia
AU - Ricci, Rossella
AU - Giacchino, Raffaella
AU - Castagnola, Elio
PY - 2008/9
Y1 - 2008/9
N2 - Varicella may be a severe infection in children with malignancy. Varicella vaccination is either not recommended for immunocompromised children or it requires temporary discontinuation of immunosuppression. We prospectively evaluated the feasibility of a varicella vaccination programme of household contacts of varicella-negative children receiving antineoplastic chemotherapy. From April 2004 to April 2005, 207 children were evaluated; in 49 (24%) the attending physicians collected no history about previous varicella and performed no serological evaluation before any transfusion. Among the 158 patients with complete history and/or a screening test, 51 (32%) were negative, with a total of 110 household contacts eligible for the study. Of these, 13 (12%) subjects resulted negative for varicella. In three of them vaccination was not performed due to parental refusal. This study demonstrates the difficulties in implementing a varicella vaccination programme targeting negative household contacts of immunocompromised children. The attitude of paediatric oncologists and parental refusal currently represent the main challenges against the complete success of this strategy in countries where VZV vaccination is not inserted in the general vaccination programme.
AB - Varicella may be a severe infection in children with malignancy. Varicella vaccination is either not recommended for immunocompromised children or it requires temporary discontinuation of immunosuppression. We prospectively evaluated the feasibility of a varicella vaccination programme of household contacts of varicella-negative children receiving antineoplastic chemotherapy. From April 2004 to April 2005, 207 children were evaluated; in 49 (24%) the attending physicians collected no history about previous varicella and performed no serological evaluation before any transfusion. Among the 158 patients with complete history and/or a screening test, 51 (32%) were negative, with a total of 110 household contacts eligible for the study. Of these, 13 (12%) subjects resulted negative for varicella. In three of them vaccination was not performed due to parental refusal. This study demonstrates the difficulties in implementing a varicella vaccination programme targeting negative household contacts of immunocompromised children. The attitude of paediatric oncologists and parental refusal currently represent the main challenges against the complete success of this strategy in countries where VZV vaccination is not inserted in the general vaccination programme.
KW - Vaccination
KW - Varicella-zoster
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=54849406843&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=54849406843&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Article
C2 - 18843211
AN - SCOPUS:54849406843
VL - 16
SP - 144
EP - 147
JO - Infezioni in Medicina
JF - Infezioni in Medicina
SN - 1124-9390
IS - 3
ER -